Our past together Chapter three - A tragedy happens
by agssaamor
Summary: The day begins like any other in China, but ends with an irreplaceable loss to Shang and his father. But Moon managed to save his friend from himself; and in a while... Everything will be back to normal.


**Chapter three.**

It was beginning another morning in China, the sun rising over the horizon, the birds singing and the sky filling with light. People were getting up from their beds and getting ready for the day.

"Shang, dear, wake up! You can't sleep all morning." His mother Wang said to him out loud as she ran her hand through his hair.

"Mom… let me alone…" He said in a sleepy voice as he covered his eyes with his hands. Li Wang was even more impatient and easy to piss off than Shang would be when he grew up; then she opened the curtains letting the sunlight illuminate the room, obviously bothering him; so she literally grabbed her son by the arm and forced him to get up.

"OKAY! I'm wake!" He said to his mother as he toke the bangs from the front of his face. "Well, apparently you forgot you and your father are going to visit the lieutenant Xiao today afternoon." She said with a sarcastic tone. "I didn't forget it, but as you said yourself, he and I are going to visit the lieutenant today afternoon; not today morning." Shang answered with a grumpy face.

Li Wang gave a challenging look to her son who was just a few inches smaller than her (yes, he was very tall for his age and it is obvious that he inherited it from his mother's family, in case you don't remember that his father was a short man). "Whatever, lunch is almost done; go take a shower and get dressed."

"Okay, I'm going now." He said as he tied his hair up in a bun and took a towel on a table by the bed, and walked to the room where the family showered.

Wang smiled, without looking back, as every mother with a little sense of humor likes to irritate her son's patience.

Minutes later Shang came out of the shower room and went to his room where he put a red coat with cufflinks on the front and black pants that matched his shoes. After that, he quickly went downstairs and went to the kitchen to see Jia, the maid, who was sweeping the floor.

"Good morning young boy; you look very nice in this outfit." Jia said looking him up and down. "Thank you, this is the clothes combination I like best." He answered with his hands on his waist. "Now young boy, go to the dinner room because your parents are waiting for you." The old maid said as she went back to sweep the floor.

Shang went to the dinner room and sat at the table where his parents were waiting him. "Good morning son, did you sleep well?" General Li asked calmly to his son. "Yes father, good morning to you too." The boy answered.

"Geez, you take longer to dress up than a girl." Li Wang said as she put the food on her plate; she liked to annoy her son.

"Hey! I want to look presentable when I'm in Lieutenant Xiao's presence." He answered to his mother as he put the food on his plate while his mother laughed lightly with her mouth full.

"Your mom is just kidding you. You worry too much about such trivial things son." General Li answered smiling.

"Yeah son, you take things too seriously." Wang said still giggling a little.

They ate their lunch and then General Li got up from the table and put his helmet on his head. "Come on Shang, we're going now to Xiao's house."

"Yes father." He said as he got up too. "Aren't you forgetting anything dear?" Shang's mother said as she gestured with her finger to get General Li's attention.

"Of course I didn't forget sweetheart." General Li said as he bent down and kissed his wife on her lips. Shang only managed to roll his eyes and turn his back to not see that scene of his parents kissing.

"Excuse me dad, but I think that at this rate we'll be slow to get there." The boy said without looking back.

"Oh yes, of course son." General Li said as he got up and went with his son to the front door. "Have a nice day you two." Wang said with her smiling face. "We'll see you later mama." Shang said as he and his father went to back of the garden, where General Li's horse was.

Both mounted the white stallion and rode to the house where Lieutenant Xiao lived. Li Wang watched her son and husband ride toward the other side of town. She sighed, although she enjoyed walking around the city, she knew how that part of the city was known to have many murders of women and girls; she wouldn't risk that way.

She tied her hair in a low ponytail using a light pink ribbon and went back to the house.

"Mrs. Li, some groceries are missing, should I go out today to buy them?" Jia asked to Wang. "Sure, get the money you need to buy them." Wang answered.

"Thanks Mrs. Li, I'll try not to take too long." The old maid said calmly as she picked a small bag with some silver coins. "Don't worry Jia; no need to hurry. See you later!" Wang answered as she saw her maid and also friend walk tough the garden to the entrance gate.

Li Wang turned and went back into the house; she sat on the back porch of the house and admired the birdsong as she watched the clouds moving in the sky and felt the afternoon breeze swaying her hair.

She closed her eyes by the tranquility of the moment, but suddenly she felt something touch her head. When she looked up, a cute little bird that was above her head looked down with that pair of bright eyes. She took the bird with her hands and petted the little animal while singing softly with him and other birds. She had a very sweet voice (when she was calm), sang so beautifully that it could soothe anyone's anger and she liked to sing mostly to her family.

_**In another place in town...**_

A little girl was in a square that was full of children playing; she seemed to be looking for someone. It was Moon! She was wearing her hair stuck in two high ponytails, a light blue long-sleeved shirt and a long gray skirt that matched her brown boots.

"I thought that Li would be here, I already searched for him near the lake and he wasn't there." Moon sighed as she said to herself.

"I wanted to play with him again; he is so cool and brave. But maybe something had prevented him from being here." She said in her thoughts remembering how they played the day before.

Moon walked to anywhere, since she was bored. After few minutes walking she arrived in a small wheat field. She felt the wind swaying her long bangs, just as the wind swayed the wheat in the field.

She saw a mantis perched on a branch lying on the ground, instead of being scared, the relatively large insect jumped into her hands; she wasn't afraid of bugs so she found it interesting that the little living being wasn't afraid of her.

Suddenly, the insect got scared of something and went flying; she tried to follow the praying mantis but lost sight of it, then she saw a human shadow approaching her from behind. OBVIOUSLY she got scared and turned around to see who was behind her. It was a very tall man who was wearing a baggy hanfu coat but was visibly strong; he was holding a long thin blade sword. (Note: It wasn't Shan Yu.)

"Ah!" Moon made this startled sound when she saw that menacing figure; but she didn't run, she knew that if she ran it would look like a prey he could attack. But her facial expression went from fear to an expression of utter horror as the man raised his sword clearly with the intention of slashing her in half with a single blow.

"AAAAH!" She screamed as she turned around and quickly ran away passing between the golden wheat trying to make the man lose sight of her. Even after leaving the wheat field, she kept running desperately for a while, not even stopping to catch her breath.

When Moon finally stopped to catch her breath, she looked around to see if that terrifying man was still chasing her, but saw nobody.

Literally nobody, because the nearest houses were almost a kilometer from where she was. Well, not all of them, when she looked left she saw a large two-story house surrounded by a wall that was about 500 meters from where she was.

Moon knew that enter in a house of strangers was a bad idea, but just thinking at that moment that the scary man raised his sword with the intention of killing her, asking for help from a stranger didn't seem so scary.

That eight-year-old girl ran toward the house, she was almost crying, that sort of thing is terrifying, you can't imagine what went through that child's head, knowing that for several years there were frequent murders of women and girls all over China.

Moon desperately knocked on the door and prayed that whoever answered the door would not want to hurt her either. She held her breath in fear for a moment when the door started opening. Then a tall woman, very beautiful, with long raven hair answered the door; she looked annoyed for a moment, but her facial expression changed to one of compassion when she saw the fear in the little girl's eyes.

It was Li Wang! Shang's mother! That was the house where Shang and his parents lived! Wang immediately allowed Moon to enter in her house, taking her by the hand, she didn't need to say anything; her pitying look already said she would help the little girl.

Moon didn't notice any physical resemblance between her friend "Li" and that woman; that would be the last thing on her mind right now.

After taking the little girl into the house, she tried to calm her down by talking to her.

"Sweetheart, what happened? You look terrified; did someone tried to hurt you?" Wang asked worried.

"Y-Yes … I-It was awful! An s-scary man…" Moon was so scared she had difficulty speaking.

"Calm down little one! Sit down. Breath and then speaks." The woman said as she sat in a chair with Moon sit on her lap.

Li Wang stroked the little girl's head as she sang softly, calming the child.

"_The mouth of the righteous, _

_Shall speak the words of wisdom. _

_And among those words will be the right judgment. _

_Rewarded will be the man who endures temptation._

_And once proven his worth,_

_He will receive the joys of life._

_Yin Yang, divine forces, has mercy._

_How sacred, how serene…_

_How godly; how lovely,_

_Creative forces of universe…"_

Moon was much calmer now, the voice of that woman, was the most beautiful she has ever heard, even though she had just met her.

"What's your name?" Wang asked as she raised the little girl's face with a finger.

"Moon, ma'am." Moon answered without worrying what the woman would think.

Wang knew that name was a nickname, but she didn't need to know the girl's real name.

"Now tell me; what did the scary man do?" The woman asked, already wondering what the child would answer.

"I was at a wheat field near from here, everything was fine, then I felt a shadow approaching me from behind; when I turned around, I saw a huge scary man, he raised the sword he was holding high, if I hadn't run he would have killed me!" Moon said almost in tears, she still was scared.

"I think now you're safe dear; when my husband and my son come home, I'll ask you to bring you back to your home and…"

"CRASH!" Li Wang had her phrase interrupted by a very loud bang. It looked like a meteor had fallen on the roof when the crash made the house tremble and a crackle of broken tiles could be heard.

Both were startled by that noise, what would have hit the roof hard enough to make that noise?! Wang wondered this; she took Moon out of her lap and went to look at what had happened.

She poked her head out the window and looked up; her facial expression went from confused to terrified, it looked as if she had just seen the devil's incarnation. Or almost it, it was the same man who tried to kill Mon, he was entering the house by the upstairs window.

"RUN OUT OF HERE! NOW!" She yelled at Moon as she turned around. Moon was confused, so she didn't moved, what happened to make that woman so desperate?

"What's going on?" The little girl asked in fear.

"DON'T ASK! DO WHAT I SAID!" Wang ordered in a furious tone, knowing that the girl would understand the severity of the problem and would obey.

And that's what happened, Moon ran off. Instead of fleeing, Wang climbed the stairs quickly, intent on locking the door to the room where the man was. But when she was about to lock the door and prevent the man from leaving, the door was broken open and she came face to face with the killer.

Just as the man shouted raising his sword, visibly intent on slicing Wang into pieces, she turned around and tried to escape.

But he brutally hurt her; the moment she turned around, the man struck her with the sword, cutting off her right arm, gushing blood from the very serious wound.

"AAAAAAHH!" Wang dropped to her knees as she screamed in agonizing pain, grasping what was left of her right arm and looking down at her severed arm that was lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

But then, she looked up and saw the psycho look on the murderer face; she knew that just injure her wasn't enough for him; he was one of the murderers who killed only women and girls, he wanted to kill her. Then with an unbelievable willpower, she got up; even very injured, bleeding a lot, she kicked him in the private parts, which gave her time to go downstairs and out of the house.

Moon was waiting for Wang near the front gate, expecting her to explain what was going on. When she saw the woman running out of the house, with her dress covered in blood, without an arm, dripping blood from the wound; the eight-year-old girl was horrified.

But something even more horrible would happen; the murder ran out the house holding his sword with the blade dripping blood, running after Wang; and she didn't even realize he was right behind her.

"LOOK OUT!" Moon cried out desperately to the woman who didn't even have time to look back before the man approached and the worse happened.

The murderer, in one stroke, brutally impaled the woman with his sword. The blade of the sword sliced through her back and out through her belly. The deep wound made her totally bloody; Wang still stood, blood dripped from her mouth, Wang put her hand on her chest looking up with her eyes widened and dripping tears, she knew she was going to die.

"This is my end … but I can still help…" It was everything Wang thought as her vision was blurring. Moon was shocked by the most terrible scene a child could see; it was so terrible that she was not even able to scream, she was silent, motionless and her eyes widened.

The killer withdrew the sword that was stuck in the woman's body. The blade of the object used for the attack, was dripping blood.

But then, something unbelievable happened: Wang turned around and looked into the murderer's eyes; even with difficulty to stay up, she hit the man's throat hard with her fingertips (If you don't know, a strong blow to this part of the neck can kill anyone through choking).

The man fell to the ground choking and quickly lost consciousness, and obviously would die moments later; despite being seriously injured, Wang was able to react and protect the little girl who witnessed the most horrible scene a child could see.

Moon was no longer scared, but impressed; how could anyone stand this attack? Wang turned back towards Moon and looked at the girl smiling slightly with her eyes half closed.

"L-Lady?" Moon said stuttering to the woman, as if she, with the innocence of a child, was asking: will you be all right?

Wang fell to the floor and a faint laugh could be heard. Her vision was already turning black and her breath was fading.

"THIS CAN'T BE!" Moon cried out as she ran toward the almost dead woman, the little girl knelt down and put Wang's head on her lap.

"Run away…" It was the last thing she said before she died. Moon got up and looked to the blood on her hands. As a good girl, she obeyed the command given by the woman who calmed her and saved her without even knowing her.

She ran aimlessly, crying, passing through the nearby village (the village I mentioned earlier, which was just over a kilometer from Wang's house). When she stopped to catch her breath, she remembered what the woman she didn't even know the name had said: the woman had a husband and a son!

Moon lowered her head and covered her eyes with her hands hiding her tears, wondering how this woman's family would suffer when they found out she was dead.

She was in an open sky market, so there were lots of people who could help her; but who should she ask for help? Moon took a few steps walking with her head down, without looking ahead; she suddenly hit her head on something made of metal and fell to the floor with her hands on her head.

"Ouch! My head…" She said as she rubbed her forehead that was red by the little accident. She looked up and saw a relatively tall man looking at her, wearing a very elegant orange armor with gold accents (that's why she hit her head on something made of metal, she bumped into a man wearing armor), a helmet with gold accents as well and a long bright red cape.

It was General Li! Although she didn't know who he was, BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T REMEMBER, SHE NEVER SAW HIM BEFORE; Moon felt scared by that imposing figure.

"Are you okay little girl?" General Li said as he bent down and held out his hand to her. Moon took his hand as he helped her to stand up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you sir." She said shyly, she had been teached that she had to respect the adults, since she was little, especially men, like anyone at that time.

"It's alright little one. But what happened? You look scared." General Li said this based on the fact that her eyes were red, visibly for crying too much, she was shaking, not to mention that her clothes were slightly stained with blood.

Her facial expression changed to fear mixed with sadness and her eyes filled up with tears. Moon threw herself on him and hugged him crying loudly as the general hugged her as well. He was confused, what would have made this girl get so traumatized? But it broke his heart to see that little girl so terrified, so he felt compelled to help her.

"It-it was awful! There was a man; a-and he tried to, t-there was an s-sword; h-he k-killed a woman and s-she saved-d me and…" Moon said it stuttering, she said so fast that was hard to understand.

"Hey, calm down little girl. I didn't understand." General Li said holding her face with his hand. She took a deep breath and waited a moment before speaking; but when she was going to say something, a voice interrupted her.

"Dad, Jia and I were waiting for you; why are taking too long?" A boy's voice said addressing to General Li; both, the General and Moon, turned their heads toward the voice. A tall boy for his age was looking confused at them, wearing a red button-down shirt, black pants, and his hair tied up in a bun.

Obviously was Shang. If you're asking why Shang and his father were at an open sky market; after they visited the lieutenant Xiao's house, they decided to walk more around the city before returning home, and because Jia was there to buy groceries, they met there.

Both Moon and Shang were surprised to see each other; Moon was surprised of seeing her new friend formally dressed and because she noticed she hugged his father; Shang was surprised of seeing his new friend talking with his father and because she was crying, in his head, she looked so unshaken.

"Moon?" "Li?" Both asked each other at the same time.

"Son, something really wrong happened and she needs to tell us. Maybe we can help her." General Li said to Shang as he stood up and put his hand on his son's shoulder.

"Moon, tell us what happened; if someone tried to hurt you we can do something." Shang said to her like he was trying to calm her.

Even though she was still shivering with fear, she was able to explain to them what happened detail by detail, while she was with her head down and tears fell from her eyes.

When Moon finished explaining what happened, she looked up and expected to hear her friend and his father say something, but they were silent; General Li had his head down, with his hand covering his mouth and his eyes were wide; and Shang was with his head down, no expression on his face and tears were streaming down his face and falling to the floor.

Both were visibly astonished; Moon's description about the woman, matched Wang's appearance, voice and personality perfectly; and the description of where the tragedy occurred, also perfectly matched the place where they lived; but only one thought was resonating inside their heads: Please, for all that is most sacred, don't be her the one who died.

Moon was confused; it took a while to associate that the woman she saw die could be from her friend's family! When she realized this, her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with her hands.

She took a few steps toward Shang. "L-Li…" Moon said in a shaky voice.

Shang raised his head and looked into Moon's eyes, which also were dripping tears. He could only say "Moon…" before his father interrupted.

"Son, bring Jia here! We're going home now!" General Li said as he turned to Shang, speaking in an angry tone, because he was desperate. He nodded and ran to where Jia was, the general looked at Moon still with a serious expression on his face.

"Little girl that my son calls Moon; go to your home, I think that there you will be safe. Listen to me; you're lucky to be alive after what happened." He said trying to be calm with the child.

"No sir, I want to see if you and your son know the woman the scary man killed." Even if it was wrong to disobey an adult, she wanted to know if they knew the woman she saw being killed.

General Li could not stop the girl from doing this, as he didn't know her and therefore had no authority over her. After a few minutes, Shang and Jia arrived where Moon and the General were; Jia was visibly worried, certainly Shang had told her what Moon said and she also suspected it was Wang the woman who was killed.

Jia placed the groceries she had bought on the back of a white horse with black mane just behind General Li, his horse. The general looked at Shang and handed the reins of the horse into his son's hand, indicating that he should ride the horse.

Shang mounted the horse and held out his hand to Moon, as if asking her to ride the horse too. She didn't even have time to answer; General Li lifted her around the waist and set her on his horse.

"You kids are going by riding the horse and we are going by feet." Jia said as she ran toward the house where Shang and his father lived. "Pray to the gods that the worst has not happened son." General Li said and ran in the same direction as Jia.

"Li, are you sure you know how to control this horse?" Moon said a bit nervous as she hugged him from behind.

"Don't worry, just hold on tight to me and you won't fall." Shang said in a serious tone. "YA!" He shouted at the horse and gave the command for the animal to run.

Moon felt scared for a moment, but one moment later noticed that "Li" was a great knight. They obviously arrived at the house before General Li and Jia. Moon immediately recognized the house by the red wall surrounding the house, her heart almost stopped beating, she knew she was about to see the saddest scene ever.

Both got down of the horse and Shang brought the horse near to the entrance gate, pulling him by the reins, Moon was walking with her head down right behind his horse, she didn't want to know how would be his reaction.

Then she heard that his steps and the horse's steps stopped, she lifted her head and saw that he was motionless and had dropped the rope he was holding in his hand that was the reins of the horse. Moon took some steps and stood aside with him, and again she saw the dead woman on the garden floor and a few yards from her was a dead man, who obviously was the murderer with a sword beside him.

When she looked at Shang's face, he had an expression of utter horror and tears were falling from his eyes to the floor. Finally, he reacted and ran toward his mother's body; he fell to his knees and held her on his arms.

"MOM! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" Shang cried out as he tried to hear Wang's heart beats putting his ear on her chest, but heard nothing. His face, his clothes and his hands were covered in blood; Wang was pale as paper and her skin were already cold.

"NOOOO!" He screamed so loud that you would be able to hear his voice a mile away, He cried loud as kept hugging his mother's body. Moon was crying in silence, she thought how she would feel if she loosed someone of her family, Although already happened once.

General Li and Jia arrived, when Shang tuned his head toward his father and his maid, he saw that Jia was covering her face with her hands but was visible she was crying really hard; even his father was crying! Although he was in silence, he had tears streaming down his face and he was holding his helmet in his hand, in signal of mourning. Shang was shocked; he never saw his father crying before, in his mind, General Li was always strong and unshakable.

General Li knelt and Shang handed Wang's body into his father's arms, who hugged his wife's body tightly. The boy who had just loosed his mother stood up and wiped his tears, now his facial expression was null; he walked toward the death murderer and took the bloodstained sword that was on the floor, his expression changed to fury and he did something unbelievable.

Shang started stabbing the murderer's dead body with his own sword; he didn't care about the blood that was staining his clothes and his hands, he wanted revenge, but would never have, because the murderer was dead! At least his mother did justice before she died, but that didn't change the fact that his heart was torn to pieces by the death of one of the only two people left in his clan besides him.

When he stopped, he threw the sword on the floor and walked out of the entrance gate; he passed by Moon with his head down and taking heavy steps. She knew he was wrecked inside, but felt that he was going to do something wrong for himself because she felt he was with a very negative energy, and she couldn't let that happen.

Moon left the entrance gate and followed Shang, staying at a distance of a few meters while followed him. After a few minutes, he stopped walking and stood in front of a well; Moon didn't approach him, she wasn't ready to look at his eyes.

Then he untied his hair and let it fall over his face, a gale shook his hair and the hair of the little girl watching him; suddenly, he jumped and stood at the edge of the well, still with his hair waving in the wind. Moon's eyes grew wide: he wanted to finish his own life!

She didn't think of anything at that moment, she just ran as fast as a lightning toward him and managed to save him from himself; Shang almost threw himself into the well but Moon grabbed his arm and hold him with all her might.

When he looked up, he got surprised at the expression his friend had on her face; the expression on her face had effort and anger mixed, she looked so calm and smiling, he didn't think he would see her that way.

Moon pulled him up, she used so much force that they both fell and rolled across the floor. Shang looked at her, she had tears on her eyes but still looked angry; she got up, grabbed him by the collar and forced him to get up.

"IDIOT! HEAR WHAT I'M GOING TO SAY! NEVER TRY TO DO SUCH A THING AGAIN!" Moon screamed at Shang still holding him by the collar with both hands, with her angry eyes dripping tears and looking at him. He had tears running down his face and he was looking down at her with a very sad face.

She took her hands off him and stepped back a little, she was too close of him. "How would you feel if you loosed someone you love?!" Shang asked almost screaming at her and crying, he was visibly angry at her but more than that, broken inside by the death of his mother.

"Of course I would be devastated! But, but, but… After suffering for a while… I would move on! And I did it once! When I was little my grandfather died sick! So don't be fool and move on!" Moon said crying while punching his chest many times.

Shang grabbed her hands, preventing her from continuing to hit him although her punches didn't do him any harm. "You don't understand how I'm feeling, so don't say what I should do." He said in a serious tone without look at her face.

Suddenly she threw herself on Shang and hugged him. "You can't kill yourself! Think in your father! He wouldn't stand losing you after losing your mother! He wants to see you turn into a man and have a family! So stop being selfish Li!" Moon said while she hugged him and leaned her face against his shoulder.

Shang was looking at nothing, his eyes were widened and tears were falling to the floor. Moon was right; he didn't think about his father, who was the only one on his life now his mother was dead; neither Jia, she wasn't from his family, but although she was their maid, was a real friend.

Moon walked away from him a few steps and for a moment, the silence remained between them. Suddenly, she turned around and walked away from him.

"Hey! Don't go away yet! Get back!" Shang said almost ordering her to come back; Moon stopped walking and turned in profile.

She took a bronze locket out of her shirt and looked at it for a moment; she took the locket off her neck and looked over her shoulder at Shang.

"Catch!" Moon said as she hurled the locket toward him, he grabbed the object and looked at it confused; why would she give that to him?

"Now this locket is yours, put inside it something that remembers your mother; goodbye…" The little girl said as she turned around and walked away without look back; Shang didn't know but his friend was crying internally and externally.

The eleven-year-old boy watched his friend go away; Shang looked down at the bronze locket and opened it, there was a space inside the object to place a portrait of a person.

"Thanks…" He said softly while tears were dripping down his face, even though she was already distant and didn't hear what he said; she made him realize that he had to be strong and move on, and not lose his mind.

_**Two weeks later…**_

Moon was at the square she had been saved by Shang of those mean girls, who always were bothering her, she didn't know his real name but that doesn't matter; what does it matter is that she was still thinking about what happened at his mother and if he was feeling better now that two weeks had passed.

She was unsure whether to visit him or not, real friends help each other through the toughest times; Moon looked around and saw the other kids playing happy together while she was alone, so she decided to go at Shang's house.

Instead of running, this time she walked calmly over there, this time there were no reason to run, she could feel a bit of tranquility in the environment as she passed through the wheat field to get to the place she wanted to go.

When she arrived, her heart was beating too fast, what would she say to him or to his father and his maid?

But then, Moon noticed that the entrance gate wasn't locked, she took few steps and looked through the small slot in the gate; she took a deep breath and pushed the red doors that formed the gate.

When she looked around, there was no sign that anyone lived there; there wasn't even the sound of birds, you could only feel a silent breeze.

Moon ran toward the house and stood still in front of the front door; the door was open, she was curious to see if someone was inside the house, who would leave the house and leave the entrance gate and front door open? It was practically an invitation for a thief to break into the house.

Even though it was wrong, Moon came into the house and saw an unexplainable thing. The house was empty! It was not empty because there was no one, but because there were no objects in the house! She walked through every room on the ground floor of the house and there was no furniture, decoration items, prayer items, absolutely nothing.

She ran upstairs hoping she would find something, but again, she found nothing. Moon didn't find anything in any room.

She stared at the horizon through the window of an empty room, and there she reflected in confusion for a few minutes. After that, she ran downstairs and ran out of that house. If she wanted answers, someone on that village that was a kilometer distance of the house would give the answers to her.

After arriving at the open-sky-market, Moon looked around and wondered which person would know what happened there. She saw a middle-aged-woman who was arranging silk fabrics in front of a place that looked like a dress shop. She walked over to the woman, hoping she knew something about her friend or his father.

"Lady; can I ask you for information?" Moon asked shyly as she bowed to the woman.

"Of course little girl, what I can answer I'll answer." The woman answered tenderly.

"Not far from here, there's a large house surrounded by a red wall; do you know who lives there?" Moon asked pointing at the direction of the house.

"I've passed around that house a few times but I don't know the people who live there; What I know is that there used to be four people there, a woman married to a military man, a boy who was their son, and a middle-aged woman who is their servant. But two weeks ago the wife got murdered. This all I know about the people who lives there." The seller explained patiently.

"Thank you miss, but I need to know more about them; that boy is my friend, I need to talk to him, but when I went to his house to see him; there was nothing neither anybody at the house." Moon said worried looking at the seller with her big bright eyes.

"Well little girl, look at that old hiker…" The woman said while pointing at an old man leaned on a cane "If there's anyone who knows everything that happens in this village, this anyone is him. Go talk to him." She added.

"Thank you very much Lady!" Moon thanked the woman as she turned to the old hiker direction and ran toward him.

She ran excited toward the old man; she felt that the elder would have the answers to the questions she was asking herself. When Moon approached the elder, she mustered her courage to ask him politely and she did.

"Good morning sir." She said as she bowed saluting the elder.

"Good morning little one; how an old beggar like me can help you?" The venerable old man said to Moon with a hoarse voice as he bowed saluting her.

Moon explained the situation minutely to the old hiker and after explaining, asked if he knew something about that; luckily he knew.

"One day after the death of the woman, they held a small funeral at the cemetery on the other side of this village, inviting just a few people. All of them were with their heads down, but three of them were crying more than everyone in that place, especially a boy who was her son." He said while looked at the morning sky.

"This I knew was going to happen anyway." Moon murmured as she thought of the smile and voice of the woman she saw dying and didn't even know her name.

"Less than a week later they moved from that house to a another house at an another city; that house became for them, a place full of negative energy. They will be mourning for a while; the day they left the house, they were dressed in black and each had a white sash tied around their ankles. It's a big loss for them." The old hiker added with his wise words.

"Thanks sir; you answered my questions." Moon thanked the elder smiling slightly; then she turned at the abended house direction and ran toward there.

"I know the kids; she won't be satisfied with just an answer." The old man said to himself and kept walking.

Moon quickly ran at the house she had visited two weeks before. When she arrived, she entered at the garden of that abended house and thought that she probably wouldn't ever see her friend again; different from what you guys are thinking, she didn't cry; even though she was a child, she understood how they were feeling, because she's been through this once.

"If they will be better moving away from here…I'm happy for them." She said to herself as she walked she walked to the front of the house and sat on the porch; Moon looked at the flowers in the garden, they were so beautiful, but would die soon because of the lack of care.

Suddenly, her eyes saw a small pink silk ribbon over a bush full of sapphire blue flowers. Moon got up and walked to the bush; she took the ribbon and looked at it for a moment. She knew that used to be Wang's ribbon, but it made no difference, because the woman was already dead.

Moon sighed with her eyes closed; her soul had not yet been calmed, so many thoughts at the same time in her head; what would she do to get these bothering thoughts out of her head?

Then an idea popped into her mind. Moon decided to go to a Taoist temple to say a prayer and ask for spiritual comfort. And maybe she could hear the wise advices of a priest that would help her.

It took her more than half an hour to get to the Taoist temple closest to her, even running as fast as she could and getting information from people in the village. Once she arrived the temple, she tried to stay calm in that sacred place; there you could feel some inner peace.

Moon knelt in front of a table with candles over it, she prayed softly with her eyes closed and still with the silk ribbon in her hand; hoping the spirits to take the bothering thoughts out of her mind.

Suddenly, she felt a hand touch her shoulder; when she looked up, she saw a man wearing a black outfit with red accents and a black hat. It was a priest; the young man emanated a very calm energy, so she decided to ask his advice for the situation she was dealing with.

"Hello child, are you seeking divine help?" The priest asked calmly as he bowed saluting her.

"Yes sir, can I ask an advice to my problem?" Moon answered as she bowed saluting back the man.

"Of course you can, tell me what's going on and I'll say what you need to hear." The wise man said as he crouched down to be at her height.

Moon explained the whole story detail by detail; but now she was recovered from the near-death experience, so she explained calmly and without crying. After a few minutes explaining everything she saw happening and she has been told it happened, the young priest tried to talk with her.

"Well, you're asking me if you should feel bad of what happened and if you should go after him right?" He asked at her as he crossed his arms and smiled slightly.

"Yeah; and do you know what should I do sir?" Moon said looking at the priest hoping to hear the answer to all the questions which were rounding her head.

"I think you should ask your parents about this; but if there's anything I can say to you, you shouldn't be all the time thinking about meeting him again. Friendship is a feeling that stays forever, no matter how long or how far people are from each other; I think he will remember you as a girl who taught him important things and saved him from himself. Now be a good girl, move on with your head held high and be happy, and one day you'll be a good woman just like the others." The priest said tenderly and stroked her head.

Now she felt that her thoughts were clear. Moon thanked the young man and ran out the temple; she stopped for a moment and looked at the sky, feeling the wind shake her hair and the skirt of her dress. Then she looked at the pink silk ribbon in her hand and smiled; she lifted her hand up in the air and opened it, watching how the wind took the ribbon in the air until she loosed sight of it.

"I wish you a good journey to the other side of life, lady of beautiful voice… And even if I never see you again... it was nice to meet you Li, I hope you get over it soon…one day… you'll be a great man…" She said on her thoughts.

Moon ran with a wide smile on her face, back to the square where she was that morning, she had nothing more to worry about.

But she'll appear in this story again…

Just wait and you'll see…

_End of Chapter._

_I took longer than expected to post the third chapter, but this is much longer and better than the previous ones, from now on the story will only get better and the questions you all have about the first and second movie will be answered..._

_Stay tuned for the fourth chapter, will come soon._


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